


Hallow Souls

by Dareagon



Category: Bleach, D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-07-06 21:44:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15894723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dareagon/pseuds/Dareagon
Summary: He’s a child again. And the person he loved most in the world is dead. Again. He had once lost Mana, when he was only a little younger than he was now, and this time he had lost his mother. Tears were streaming from his eyes as his uncle cooed in his ears.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Twice Cursed, Once Freed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9290201) by [CharlotteDaBookworm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteDaBookworm/pseuds/CharlotteDaBookworm). 



> Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or D Gray Man! I just wish I did.
> 
> Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11.

Waking up was painful.

He was small again, but that hadn’t registered immediately.

It rained. Hard. He could barely see anything before him.

But his left side hurt and he could almost taste the blood in the air.

Blood.

His entire left side had been covered in it and breathing had been painful.

With each breath he took, he could hear and feel the blood that entered his lungs sloshing around. The pain was bad, almost as bad as that time Tyki Mikk had made a hole in his heart and ripped his innocence and arm off.

His dark grey eyes widened in panic as he could see muscles and bones sticking out of his side as the blood kept on streaming. His small hands scrambled to push the flesh together again.

In the back of his mind, a presence stirred. He sobbed in relief as he felt Nea wake up. The Noah immediately used his regeneration powers to start healing the wound of his host.

It took a while to notice the dead body not far from him.

He had been too busy with his own new and strange body. Strange but somewhat familiar as well…

It pained him that it took him a moment to realise why he cared about her, and when he realized she had been his mother, the tears renewed again. He had loved her with everything he had been, much like he had loved Mana.

He was nine, and he felt just as alone as he had felt for most of his last life.

His name was now Kurosaki Ichigo. Ichigo had been a shy, always smiling boy who had clung to his mother. A mother who was dead now. Killed by that little girl? (Or was something else going on? For just a second, she had reminded him of an Akuma.) He tried to remember.

Before that he had been Allen Walker, a name Mana had given him. He had named himself Red before that, as he lived on the streets and helped out in the circus to survive.

Out of all three lives he had had (and yes, he considered his existence as Red separated from his life as Allen), he had been Allen the longest. All three had been him, and he had never lied to anyone when he changed himself to survive the harsh world he lived in.

Only time would tell who he would be this time orr if he would create another alias to survive.

If he recalled correctly he had a father here, but he had never had a father before. The only male role model he'd had was Mana, and looking back on it as a teenager, he realised that Mana had been very sick.

Alright, so Nea had helped him realise that by reviewing his memories. Allen had never known different, but clearly Nea’s death had mentally crippled Mana. It had hurt, realising this. Allen had been very reluctant to face the truth, to say the least.

He mused on all this as Nea carefully stitched the wound closed with his powers. He coughed the remaining blood out of his lungs.

The rain would wash it all away soon anyway.

Someone else was approaching them quickly. He didn’t move as he laid on the grass next to the river and even closed his eyes as the person reached him.

Reached him and continued on.

He opened his eyes to glance at the human. A man was crying and clutching his dead mother close. Huh, his father then.

The man, however, didn’t seem to notice the small boy.

Allen wasn’t sure what to think about that. He'd never had parents before, but it seemed more logical to take care of the person still alive first right? To at least check if they weren’t dying?

Because if Nea hadn’t woken up in time to heal him, he would have died. No doubt about it.

And yet, for what felt like an eternity his father clutched his mother in desperation, not even looking or acknowledging his hurt son.

Another man appeared. A blond wearing a dark outfit (it was difficult to see the exact colours in the rain) kneeled by Allen’s side.

Allen tore his eyes away from his parents to observe the man. The blond examined him carefully, not minding that he was awake. He gently felt for a heartbeat, ran smooth fingers on his side, only to be met with what looked like a scar and torn clothes, but no wound.

“So you managed to survive.” The man muttered.

Allen had to force himself not to roll his eyes at the man. “Who are you?”

“A friend of your fathers.” The man replied vaguely. “Sleep now.”

A strange energy enveloped him and he felt Nea bristle defensively.

Allen shook his head. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing to worry about. You won’t remember any of this later, so just rest.”

He couldn’t fight the feeling and fell asleep.

\--

When he woke up he was in his room or at least what had been Ichigo’s room. It felt familiar and weird at the same time.

He couldn’t help but look around in wonder.

The world sure had changed since he had been alive. The room felt light, totally different than the dark room he had known as Allen.

There weren’t any toys that he could see, but he knew he had some stored in the closed. There was a small desk, just big enough for a nine year old to do his homework.

School…

Allen grimaced. School was something new. He had never gone before he became Ichigo. He felt nervous about going, because there would be a lot of people there, but he felt excited at the same time.

An education was very important after all. It could ensure he would never end up on the streets again. It could help him to travel as well. He loved travelling, discovering new places and cultures. It was the only upside about being Master Cross’s apprentice. The man was constantly running from people he owned debts to, so they never stayed in the same place for long.

He had never been in Japan before. At least, not since the fight before discovering the Ark and the population of Japan had been practically wiped out by then.

He got up from his bed, unconsciously scratching the back of his left hand as it itched.

His door opened and he was briskly smashed into the wall behind his bed.

Groaning, he clutched his side and looked up in shock.

“GOOD MORNING ICHIGO!!!”

He watched with wide eyes as his father beamed at him in the middle of the room, his leg still in the air from the kick he had delivered to his son.

This couldn’t be normal parental behaviour, right?

He couldn’t remember the man having ever done that before.

“Training has just begun! You’ll never grow up to be a strong man with reflexes like that, Ichigo!” and the man left again, still smiling like an idiot. “Breakfast is ready. You’ve been lazing about long enough!”

What the hell?

He felt Nea shake in rage.

It was later that morning in the bathroom that he got the next shock, after being attacked by his neanderthal of a father, that is.

His once orange hair had seemingly lost all its colour overnight.  Is this because his hair had turned out white in his last life as well? Or was the trauma of losing his mother just that big?

This must be why the twins still shot him wary looks at breakfast.

His hands shook as he clutched the sink.

Maybe it’s both. After all, this is the second time his most precious person died because of him.

Another thought entered his head as he finally stood under the shower. He absent-mindedly scratched at his itching arm.

Maybe his dad blamed him as well? For his mother’s death… Because the man had attacked him earlier. If Isshin thought he needed special ‘training’, doesn’t that mean the man wants to punish him?

\--

The funeral is the day after he woke up and his father kicked him. It was grey and dreary and it seemed like the rain hadn’t stopped fallen since his mother died.

Little Yuzu was the one who tells him he’s been sick with fever since the day their mom died. She and Karin had taken care of him, as much as five year olds could.

The blond man hadn’t been around, and Allen had been busy taking care of his sisters yesterday. He had tried not to think too much about the loss of his mother, not wanting to dwell on those depressing thoughts.

But now, they all overwhelmed him with a vengeance. He hadn’t had time to grieve yet and now wasn’t the time to do so either. His father had been a wreck all day, hadn’t even kicked him out of bed this morning (he suspected that might become a disturbing habit of the older man). Even now, as they stood by the grave, the man was bawling his eyes out.

Allen had been forced to make sure his sisters had breakfast, that they wore special clothes (appropriate for the occasion) and the worst of it all, his father had left it to him to explain to them what was happening.

He wasn’t sure he would ever forgive the man for that.

He held his sisters’ hands, and said nothing to all the nameless faces who approach him and say they’re sorry. Arisawa Tatsuki, a girl he had started befriending at the dojo who also happened to be his classmate at school was there as well with her parents. She didn’t make any direct contact with him. Did she maybe not recognise him with his white hair? He wondered, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk, so he left her be. He saw lots of other people present, but the blond man never showed himself.

He wondered why that was. The man clearly knew his father…

The man had said he wouldn’t remember, but he did. Remember. Probably more than the man had meant, since he not only remembered what happened when his mother died, but he also remembered his previous life.

His hand was itching again.

Their mother was lowered into the ground, and a few people made a few more speeches, but he wasn’t paying any attention. Allen focused on his sisters now, first and foremost. Yuzu started crying, and he pulled both her and Karin into his arms. Both his sisters were crying as the service ended.

Allen himself will cry when he is in his room, alone. Preferably when everyone else in the house is already sleeping.

Their father disappeared after the service so it became Allen’s job to get his sisters home and fed. Much like the day before.

He can only hope this wouldn’t become a habit, and that their father only needed some time to grieve.

He had never cooked a lot in his previous life, but he could make something simple for the twins. A mac and cheese was easy to make (even if he needed Nea’s instructions to not burn the whole thing) and they had everything needed, so he didn’t waste any time.

They ate in silence, and he surprised himself with his big appetite.

It was nothing compared to eating as an exorcist with a parasitic innocence, but he had not expected to eat that much after today.

He helped the girls prepare for bed and stayed with them until they fell asleep, curled around each other.

He went back down to clean up the kitchen and do the dishes. When he was done, his father still hadn’t come home so he prepared for bed and when he was finally alone and in his bed, hiding under the covers, only then did he cry.

**TBC.**


	2. Chapter 2

His arm was really starting to bother him. For about a week now the itching kept getting worse. He was scratching his arm raw without noticing it.

It was morning now, the last Sunday before their father was sending them all back to school.  He had barely slept that night. If it wasn’t the itching keeping him awake, it was the nightmares.

He had died at least once, so he supposed the nightmares were to be expected.

**‘Your life was pretty nightmare inducing before you were violently murdered.’** Nea had commented dryly after they noticed the new habit.

Allen didn’t like to think back on those times. He had made it a habit to stuff memories like that as far back in his mind as he could, long before now. And he would continue to do so.

It had always worked just fine until now, so why change?

This life was supposedly a new start. That was the basic principle of reincarnation, after all.

It seemed like he had gotten so used to the itching at least that he had finally managed to sleep an entire night through it. He grimaced, however, when he noticed that sleeping had not stopped him from scratching.

His arm was covered in scratch marks.

**‘You are bleeding, nephew’** Nea commented with a frown.

And indeed he had managed to pierce his skin without noticing.

Allen scowled. Of course the itching would be that bad that even now he didn’t register the pain.

The first aid kit in the bathroom was as good as empty. It’s frustrating, but also somewhat logical. They lived in a clinic after all. He could simply walk in and get whatever he needed there. Still going into the clinic meant he’ll probably have to face his father…

He put on his clothes, threw a last look at Nea in the mirrors reflection, and went downstairs. The girls were still sleeping and he couldn’t immediately spot his father. He cautiously entered the room.

Knowing his father, the man could be laying in an ambush somewhere.

Going in he spotted a huge poster of his mother on the wall. It froze him in his tracks.

**‘What the hell?!?’** Nea asked shocked.

‘My thoughts exactly.’ Allen couldn’t contain his shock. He gaped with wide eyes at the poster.

Only to go down when someone kicked him harshly in the back. He crashed and barely managed to avoid the kitchen counter.

“GOOOOD MOOOORNINNNG, ICHIGOOO!” his father yelled loudly with an impossible wide smile.

**‘Good lord.’** Nea sighed in exasperation.

This was become a bad habit of the man.

Unfortunatly…

It was supposedly to train Allen, but he had no idea what he needed to train against? Wasn’t society supposed to be safe now? At least compared to his last life?

Sure he had seen some ghosts around (he had always seen them as Ichigo so it didn’t come as a very big surprise), but none of them had tried to hurt other people and there didn’t seem to be any Akuma around anymore either. He hadn’t noticed any in any case. Japan had been crawling with Akuma a century or two ago, so this was certainly an improvement.

Still his father kept insisting on ‘fighting’ him at least once or twice a day so maybe picking up his old training regimen might not be such a bad idea, if only to keep this lunatic at bay.

“What the hell, old man?!” he couldn’t help but yell angrily as he rubbed what he could reach of his back.

“I caught you of guard again.” Isshin had the audacity to do a little victory dance.

This was seriously starting to piss Allen off. If Nea hadn’t told him the man had come check up on him every night (checking for fever and such) Allen would not have believed Isshin even cared just the slightest bit. This was really starting to look a lot like his relationship with Master Cross. Except now, he didn’t have to work to keep repaying endless debts.

But honestly that was the only ray of sunshine in the endless darkness.

Well, that and his two adorable sisters.

“You really should stop hurting your own son, you geezer! And what is it with that poster!?”

“MASAKI!! Our son is insulting his father! He’s becoming such a rebel!!”

Seriously? Allen Twitched as he held his more violent reaction in. Isshin was now hugging the wall and crying on the poster?

He turned away and while his father was distracted and quickly entered the clinic. He grabbed some bandages and some creamss (anti-itch and pain killing) and hurried back into his room.

Life goes on.

Strange as it is, because some part of him, and that part was mostly Ichigo though he wasn’t completely gone, had died with his mother. Strangely enough, while the girls clung more desperately to him now, no one seemed to notice that Allen had woken up. No one had noticed anything strange.

He’d taken to talking to the ghost girl at school. She had died about a year ago, run over on the street just before school, and ever since she knew he could see her, she had taken to visiting him to talk. As Ichigo he had ignored her, but Allen knew what loneliness like that could do to a person, so he hadn’t been able to turn her away. It was during one such conversation – well they weren’t talking right now, simply sitting together in peace – that Nea made a strange observation.

**‘There is something off about that cat.’**

Allen turned around to see what was going on. ‘What cat?’

**‘Don’t focus on it. You don’t want to make it suspicious.’** The Noah warned.

‘It’s just a cat. What’s it going to do?’ He asked sceptically as he briefly spotted the animal in question. Following Nea’s advice, he didn’t let his gaze linger, but he continued to look around.

**‘Right,’** Nea sneered sarcastically, **‘like you’ve never been stalked by a cat before now. Remember Lulu Bell? She regularly shifted into a cat, if I’m reading your memories right? This cat has been following us around. I’ve already seen it four times today and at least two other times this week.’**

Allen sat up straighter. ‘Seriously?? A cat is stalking us? Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?’

**‘No, it has the same energy as the kid next to you, only stronger.’** Nea dismissed.

Allen bit his lip.

“Everything all right?” The ghost girl asked.

Allen flashed her a grin. “Yeah, just thinking about homework.” He whispered.

She laughed out loud. “That’s the only good point to being dead. No more homework.”

He kept smiling.

It must look strange to other people, sitting here by himself talking to thin air.

Allen tried not to draw too much attention, but kids still noticed. Other students were starting to bully him for it, but it turned out Ichigo was more violent than he had been. Or at least, he had no problem acting on his anger now, when before he’d hide it.

When his temper flared, he was much quicker to hit back in this lifetime.

Still…

He continued to see the cat around. Not all the time, not even every day, but when it was around, it’s presence almost hit him in the face. Now that he noticed it, it seemed the cat couldn’t go unnoticed anymore.

But he had other things to worry about. His arm for example.

Seemed reincarnation hadn’t only included his Noah to be reincarnated with him. His innocence was also coming along for the ride.

He had cursed violently when the skin on the back of his hand had been scratched raw enough for a strange green glow to seep through the skin. Any other person would have been alarmed.

Not Allen.

He had groaned and Nea had cursed (even teaching him some new curse words – and that was saying something as Allen had grown up around Cross!)

He had feared it might have been something like this, but he had hoped not. Having a Noah in his mind was bad enough – even if they had finally found a way to share headspace. Adding in innocence, the very opposite of everything a Noah was, was just adding to his pain.

Not literally. He was not in constant pain because of it but mental pain, as in Nea was already headache inducing on his own (with his attitude, again he did not cause any literal pain) but adding in an innocence was just like adding oil to an already burning inferno.

Part of him was still relieved it was back. He hoped it was Crown Clown. He had had it his whole life, had been born with it, and it was probably also the reason his parents had abandoned him.

He had promptly bandaged his hand again (applying various creams) and had gone out to buy gloves. Three pairs of identical gloves, all black for now. He preferred white, but it was still possible he’d start bleeding again. There was nothing more difficult to wash blood out of than white fabric…

White hair, white gloves, that had been his thing.

Maybe later…

The moment he saw his innocence breaking through his hand, was also the moment the pain starts.

It’s not an agonizing pain, just a constant and dull ache, from the tips of his fingers to the top of his arm, it constantly hurt.

**‘It’s normal that it would hurt.’** Nea had sneered in distaste. **‘Innocence is not human flesh after all. I suppose it’s either this or it would have grown on you like a third arm. You probably went through this last time as well, but seeing as you weren’t born yet you weren’t aware of it.’**

But pain was not something new, he learned to live with it long ago and he’d rather live through the pain than to gain an extra limb, if he had to be honest.

It took a few days before the green innocence cross became completely clear of skin on the back of his hand. He didn’t scratch anymore due to the bandages, but every morning and evening he could literally peel off pieces of dead skin from his hand and/or arm.

He kept his arm covered at all times now, mostly because it looked sickening. The skin was clearly dying and peeling off but underneath was a dark red almost black material that clearly wasn’t ordinary skin. His arm had taken characteristics of both his innocence’s forms. It seemed like it would most closely resemble its last form, the only difference he could see now was the cross on his hand was actually made of the green crystal-like material that all innocence was in their raw form and the whole arm was a bit redder in colour than it had been at the moment of his death.

He started getting up early (earlier than his father which ‘excused’ him from ‘training’ in the morning, though given the damage in his room, it took his father a few days to get with the program) and going on morning runs to keep in shape.

He stopped going to his karate classes though, because the sensei had send him to back after they had seen his bandages.

He started skipping his PE classes as well. Their sensei also didn’t tolerate him wearing anything but the uniform and seeing as he didn’t have a doctor’s note for his arm, he didn’t have a valid excuse in their eyes. His classmates thought him strange enough already, no need to show them his arm and add to the bullying.

He got the shock of his life the day he had tried to touch a ghost with his innocence hand.

It had been ghost girl, and she had come to see him again right after school. He had brought some flowers that morning to place them at the place she died.

“Thanks again for the flowers!” She had smiled at him and Allen couldn’t help but smile back.

Sometimes, especially when no one else was around, he forgot that people like her were dead and couldn’t be touched. So he had reached out, meant to squeeze her shoulder in reassurance.

“W-what is happening?!” he had yelled in shock as she froze and started diffusing in shiny particles.

“It’s so warm.” She closed her eyes as if she was basking in the sun.

She opened her eyes again just before she completely disappeared. “Thank you, nii-san!”

And she was gone.

**‘Did you just…? What did you do?’** Nea tilted his head confused.

In panic, Allen ran away from the scene. Ghost girl was gone and he didn’t want to stick around.

Later, when Allen had calmed down again, they theorised that just like innocence could send the soul of an Akuma on to the afterlife, his innocence could also do this for ordinary souls. Allen had never seen any in his previous life, so maybe innocence had always had that ability?

At least, that what they thought. The girl had thanked him, so neither thought something horrible had happened to her.

At the same time, he was also searching for a place now where he could train in peace, without having to worry about anyone else stumbling upon him.

And through all this, the cat kept following him around. And yeah, he really couldn’t deny it anymore, it really was following him around. He had seen it talk – TALK! - to an adult male ghost in the weirdest outfit once, and since he started noticing the male showing up around him regularly as well, or more to the point, they seemed to be tag teaming him!

He was slowly but steadily losing his patience with them both. These days only having his sisters around helped calm him down. He was really lucky to have them.

\--

The cat and the blond had been following him for more than two months, when his patience ran out. Others might consider it a low blow, but Allen had no remorse when he set Nea on the two. It was the first time he willingly gave control of his body to the Noah, but he didn’t regret it. Especially when Nea informed him afterwards that the cat had been spying on him while he was getting ready for bed, and that it hadn’t left after he went to sleep.

It was creepy as hell…

So he was grateful that Nea had managed to follow the feline back to their base of operations.

The next day, after school, he went to confront them. Allen followed Nea’s instructions to end up in front of some obscure shop in some deserted alleyway.

‘This is it?’ he raised a sceptic eyebrow. He was not impressed.

**‘It is.’** Nea confirmed with a sigh.

Allen copied him, before opening the door and entering the building.

The shop was bare. Completely made out of wood, with a counter and some empty shelves. A few boxes stood behind the counter, but it was impossible to tell what exactly was being sold here. There was also no bell to announce his presence.

He sighed again. This could take a while.

A stern giant with a moustache and glasses entered about five minutes later, just before Allen lost his patience and started yelling.

Without saying anything to him, the giant turned around and spoke to someone in the back. “Boss, there is someone here for you.”

Great, apparently he was talked about enough around here for a stranger to recognize him. Brilliant.

His blond stalker appeared and briefly looked shocked to see him. He took one look at the white haired boy, and quickly hid his face behind his opened fan. Combined with his strange hat, his whole face was hidden.

And then the fan was gone again and the stalker beamed at him.

“Hi, there. How can I help you?”

Allen started twitching.

“No.” he said resolutely.

The man tilted his head. “No?”

“No. The question is, how can I help you?”

“I do not think I follow.”

“Now that would be a first.” Allen couldn’t help but snark.

The man blinked in confusion and studied him thoughtfully. “How did you find this shop?”

“Is it really a shop? Because you seem to be having some problems there. It’s empty. And anyway, it wasn’t difficult to find this place at all.”

The man twitched, but Allen continued on as if he hadn’t noticed. “Your behaviour has been a real inspiration.”

“I’m feeling quite confused right now.” The man waved his fan before his face again. “Whatever do you mean?”

The twitch above Allen’s eye got worse. “I mean that I drew the line when your cat started to watch me while I’m sleeping and I followed it here. Now tell me, why have you been stalking me?”

The man blinked again.

Allen wasn’t sure if the man was playing stupid, or if he really was clueless. Usually he could spot a faker from miles away, but he had trouble reading this guy.

“I’ve seen you. You and your cat. One of you is always around during the day.”

“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.” The man smiled innocently at him. “I’ve been taking long walks through town lately. You don’t need to think anything of it.”

Allen was really starting to get pissed off. A little bit of what his friends had once called ‘black Allen’ slipped through. “Really? Personally I find it very suspicious when I see a grow man hiding in a tree watching ten-year olds at school. What are you, a paedophile?”

The man spluttered and waved his arms around in shock.

Nea laughed loudly in his mind and Allen couldn’t help but feel triumphant at have received such a reaction.

The giant, who apparently hadn’t left yet, shot his boss a disapproving look.

“Just tell me what you want from me. I’m really getting tired off all this. At the rate this is going, one of you is going to follow me into the bathroom next.” Allen sighed in aggravation.

“No, no! I wouldn’t do that!!” The man protested loudly.

“I don’t have any reason to believe you about that.” Allen dead-panned.

He took a deep breath. “Look, is this about the ghosts? Is that why you are following me?”

“Why would you say that?” The man tried to recover.

Allen shrugged? “Mostly because until today I thought you were dead too. Even now, you still give off the same energy as the other ghosts, only much stronger.”

“So you can feel it. I had wondered.” He mused.

“Can you just tell me what you and your pet want from me?” Allen felt very tired all of a sudden.

At least the weirdo wasn’t denying the stalking anymore…

The man snorted? “Sorry, but that cat does not answer to me.”

The more the man talked, the more Allen wanted to hit him in the face.

“It literally does.”  He grit out. “I’ve seen it talking to you. Now stop evading my questions and give me an answer!” He snapped again.

“Kurosaki-kun,” the giant interrupted, “please calm down. We were all just worried about you. You went through some traumatic experiences recently.”

Allen felt the frustration leave him as he studied the two men before him.

“Aren’t you surprised we know your name, Kurosaki Ichigo?” The blond questioned him with a grin.

Allen shrugged. “You’ve been stalking me for over two months, paedophile-san. I’d be disappointed if you didn’t know at least my name by now.”

The man flinched at the nickname.

Nea chuckled darkly.

“And you were there the night my mom died? I do remember you, even if you said I wouldn’t. I thought you might be friends with my dad, but you never showed up at the funeral.”

Nea gave him a nudge and he caught the look the adults exchanged. It made the hairs on his arms stand up as he shivered.

He was missing something here…

Wait…

**‘Maybe we dismissed their relationship with the lunatic a bit too soon.’** Nea muttered darkly.

“What?” he asked with a scowl at the possibility. “Is my father somehow involved in this mess?” he couldn’t believe it…

No, actually, scratch that, this could definitely be something his unpredictable old man would come up with…

The adults didn’t say anything, but the blond did cringe a little. If Allen wasn’t looking for a reaction, he would have missed it.

“He is, isn’t he…?” he half-asked. “Why on earth?”

The blond cleared his throat. “He is very worried about you and-“

“Oh God, really? Are you kidding me?!” Allen exploded. “The man is supposedly worried about me and instead of talking to me about it, he asks some blond paedophile dressed like a hobo and his fetish cat to stalk me?”

“Will you stop calling me that?” the blond whined, completely missing the point.

Allen was shaking in rage. “Well, since you have been such a good messenger boy for him, tell him something from me? Tell him to go to hell!!”

And he stormed out, too angry to care where he was going.

\--

“Nii-san?”

He had barely entered the house, calmer now, but still raging inside, when Yuzu approached him hesitantly. Seeing her hesitation made him feel like scum and he locked away the rage for later.

“What is it, Yuzu?” he smiled at her.

She perked up. “I found this book. It’s from mom. There’s a lot of recipes in here. Can you teach me?”

She looked so hopeful as she held out their mother’s old recipe notebook that he immediately melted.

“Of course. Let’s see.”

They looked through the pages and Allen spotted an easy curry recipe. If he recalled correctly, they had all those ingredients in house.

He spend the next few hours cooking in the kitchen with a happily chatting Yuzu.

Karin joined them shortly after, but she didn’t actually help. She just sat at the table and kept them company.

Allen felt more relaxed than he had in a long time. He did most of the work of course. He refused to let Yuzu handle any of the knives, so all she did was washing the ingredients and putting them in the cooking pot. She stood on a chair to stir and Allen kept a very close eye on her to make sure she wouldn’t burn herself.

Before he realised it he’s serving his sisters their curry with rice and their father comes in.

Something in Allen freezes, and he can feel Nea inching closer to him in his mind in comfort.

Had the man ever bothered to talk to him, Allen would have given him the benefit of the doubt and talked to him.

Now?

No way in hell! The weirdo blond and his cat could give their report and his message to his father (like they had been doing all along).

He steeled his shoulders and ignored the man.

Isshin didn’t seem to notice anything wrong. And didn’t that just tell you everything you needed to now?

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment on your way out, please ;)


	3. ch 03

** Ch03 **

Time passed and life went on.

The girls grew like never before. Yuzu insisted on learning to cook and Allen didn’t stop her. He did, however, insist on helping her and keeping an eye on her as she did so. He would never forgive himself if she got hurt. It started simple, a curry, some salads and sandwiches. When he deemed her big enough (and he had a huge debate with Nea about that, because how should he know when she was old enough?!), he taught her how to use a knife and slowly but steadily she took control of the kitchen.

Karin never encroached on what the twins call Yuzu’s domain, but does her best around the house. When she isn’t out playing football, she tries to tidy up their home. She is also the only one who bothers to keep their father in line, and Allen has never felt prouder as the day she kicked their father into the wall as he goes for his daily Allen-ambush.

Those still happen at least once a day, but Allen has gotten good at retaliation. He can dodge most of the attacks now, especially since his father insists on laughing like a madman every time.

The relationship between father and son has not improved. At all…

School keeps him busy. The lessons are challenging as he has never gone to school as Allen. The curriculum keeps getting harder and he is overjoyed by the challenge. He never knew he enjoyed learning that much.

The bullies were still a problem, but most knew not to mess with him by now.

It took months before his innocence completely replaced his human arm. He really didn’t like thinking back to it as it had kept itching and irritating the hell out of him the entire time and he had had to keep it covered ever since.

He had been able to exorcize spirits ever since the shiny green part of his innocence had come through from under his skin but this was no bother since he liked talking to the ghosts and he really enjoyed helping them find peace so they could move on.

He only ever touched them with his left hand with their permission, but it felt nice to help them like that. To feel useful.

Nea argued relentlessly with him about that. Not about the fact that he was still helping spirits, but because Allen thought his life was useless if he didn’t. There were no more Akuma around after all…

Apparently children were meant to have fun and live their life while others (adults) took care of them.

Who knew?

The Black Order had obviously never heard about it. If he remembered correctly, Lenalee had been the youngest exorcist ever and she had started at age six. After that the Order had kept her prisoner to make sure she couldn’t leave.

He shook his head, refusing to think about Lenalee.

It still hurt. She and the others (except for Lavi who had left with bookman, and Kanda who had died before that) had done nothing but watch as the Black Order had taken him prisoner and later on executed him after all…

Still, he enjoyed his new life. He could usually shake the traumatic experiences from his last life well enough that neither of his sisters had noticed anything wrong. He liked spending time with them, he adored watching movies (even if it were animation that his sisters could watch as well), and he was finally starting to understand why Nea kept on arguing with him. It was relaxing.

He wasn’t really close to anyone, except for Nea of course. Closest after that came his sisters, and he loved them fiercely, but he didn’t really have any friends. Allen didn’t mind though. His last life had proven that he was better off not opening up to people, and besides he didn’t see any of the kids at school ever having a somewhat normal reaction if they happened to see his arm.

He tilted his head in thought. Maybe Chad…

Chad was a huge teenager, twice as wide as Allen and at least a head taller (and Allen wasn’t small this time around!) that he had helped when bullies bothered him. The teen didn’t talk a lot but he seemed convinced that he had to repay Allen somehow so Chad had taken to following him around and backing him up during fights.

They didn’t talk, and other than during fights, they didn’t hang out so Allen wasn’t sure that he counted as a friend.

Then again, his only true friendship in the end turned out to be with Kanda Yu, and they had constantly fought whenever they were near each other.

So… maybe he just wasn’t a good at these sort of things. Still, Chad was the only one he could even vaguely consider a friend.

Something roared, sounding like it was only a few streets away from him.

He startled. School had just been over and he was planning on heading straight home once the final bell rang.

This was new.

A lot of things in this life were new and, except for the new father, he had liked just about all of it.

A familiar pain flared in his left eye and he covered it with his hand out of habit. This happened so fast he barely registered the huge creature appearing from around the corner and destroying most of the building standing in its way.

Allen immediately had a flashback to the news coverage from this morning, about another building that had been destroyed in the neighbourhood.

The creature was huge, seemed to run on four legs while still giving the impression that there was something human about it – must be the hands, he would muse later. It had black-grey skin and a monstrous white mask with disturbing teeth.

He had never seen anything like it, yet it reminded him a lot of an Akuma (level 2). He could even see where the soul inside it was chained up. It didn’t look happy, but the soul still looked somewhat human and it wasn’t screaming in pain. More like a Level 1 then…

The Akuma roared again and started chasing a little ghost boy again. The kid hadn’t stopped running.

It was habit that made him reach for his glove, even if he wasn’t sure his innocence would be any help. While it could help ghosts move on, he hadn’t activated it yet in this life time. He hadn’t needed to, until now…

He had barely moved as a strange butterfly fluttered passed his face, only for it to become a human figure while he blinked. The person had short black hair, and traditional black Japanese clothing down to the sandals. With one swing of their katana, they cleaved the Akuma’s mask in two.

The Akuma shattered and Allen could only watch with wide eyes as it died and the soul inside thanked them before it moved on.

He could only gape in shock.

**‘** **This is new.** **’** Nea remarked casually.

‘Just when I thought I was getting the hang of this new life.’ Allen mourned inside. Why did this new life keep surprising him like this?

Turning around to talk to the figure in black, he can only mourn as they were long gone.

All Allen could do was comfort the boy ghost (who was crying now) before he could continue on home.

Coming home was a chore. As it always was when Isshin was involved.

He had been distracted, his mind still stuck on the Akuma from before. He hadn’t thought to dodge as his father attacked him. Not that he really considered the man his father… That kick to the face had hurt a lot.

Yuzu tried to calm them both down, but Allen couldn’t help but punch the man in the face while Isshin was doing his little victory dance. He made sure to use his left hand as well because he knew that one hurt more.

“Are you really that crazy!?” He couldn’t help but rage at the man.

Isshin started crying dramatically and wept by their mother’s poster. They still hadn’t managed to take it off the wall after years of trying.

Karin was becoming a pro at ignoring their old man’s antics, and even now she was calmly eating her dinner.

“… - our son is a real goody two shoes, Masaki!! He’s dressed all nicely and is even growing his bleached hair out! What will we do if he turns out gay?!”

Allen kicked Isshin in the back of his head, burying his face at least an inch or two into the wall. Both of them were twitching, Allen in irritation and Isshin in pain.

“I’m sick of this drama. I’m going.” He turned around and left the house again, despite his sisters protests.

He would only go back home late that night. He’d spend hours just wandering about, talking to some of the ghosts around, and mostly trying to calm down.

Nea had spent hours softly humming or singing soothing songs in the back of his head.

It was already dark outside when he finally managed to retire to his room.

He let himself fall forward onto his bed with a groan and buried his face in his pillow. He was so ready for some peace and quiet.

**‘** **Um, nephew?** **’** Nea asked tentatively.

‘Leave me alone.’ Allen sighed tiredly.

‘No can do, I’m afraid.” The Noah ignored his refusal. ‘You have a visitor.’

‘What?’ he asked almost lazily without looking up.

‘The katana wielding person from before is sitting in your window.’

“What?!” Allen bolted upright.

And indeed, on his window sill crouched a girl with short black hair. She wore the same black outfit as earlier and carried a katana by her side. She kept muttering to herself and was fiddling with the handle of her sword. 

She jumped into the room, completely ignoring him.

“Excuse me? Who are you?” Allen asked cautiously.

She didn’t react to him. At all…

He smiled his polite but secretly evil smile and stood up to poke her in the side with his right hand.

She screeched in shock and stumbled backwards.

“As I said before, who are you? And what are you doing in my room?” he asked still smiling.

He was tempted to ask if she was stalking him, but decided to wait a little longer. The weirdo-feline stalker duo had stopped bothering him years ago after he confronted them but seeing this girl twice in one day was suspicious…

“You can see me?!” she shouted in shock. “Wait, you’re that guy from earlier!”

Or maybe not…

**‘** **She sure is observant.** **’** Nea mocked.

“I just touched you, so I should hope I’d be able to see you.” Allen couldn’t help but sass.

He turned on the light in his room and gestured with his head towards his Chabudai (low table). She inclined her head and took a seat on one of the cushions, placing her katana next to her.

During all this she stayed silent. He sighed in aggravation. Why could these ghosts and would-be stalkers never answer his questions.

The only thing saving her from his temper right now, was that she really seemed clueless and without any idea of what was happening.

Either she was an award winning actress or no one had told her about him.

In which case, kudos to her.

“Now, let’s start again, shall we? Who and what are you?” he asked pleasantly when they were both seated.

“I am a Shinigami – a soul reaper. My main job is to help plus souls move on and to destroy hollows.” She replied without introducing herself

“Plus souls? Hollows?”

“Plus souls are the souls of the dearly departed who linger here on earth. If you can see spirits you have probably seen them around. They have a chain sticking out of their chest.

He nodded to show he understood.

“Hollows are like that creature from earlier. They were once plus souls but due to anger and regret they linger too long on earth and transform into creatures like the one you saw, Hollows. They devour plus souls to feed their infinite hunger.

**‘** **Yikes.** **’** Nea commented dryly.

“So much like Akuma, and yet not…” Allen muttered absent-mindedly.

“What was that?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing, nothing.” He hadn’t realised he had spoken out loud. “So you take care of those hollows?”

“Yes, when a Shinigami kills a hollow the original soul and every soul it has devoured it consumed are freed to move on.”

“That sounds like quite the responsibility.” Allen perked up at her answer. Maybe …

“It is.” She nodded solemnly.

“So, what are you doing in my room?” Allen smiled his innocent smile at her.

She blinked, clearly not expecting the change in subject.

“I was tracking a hollow, but it seemed I have lost it.”

“Really?” Allen couldn’t help but ask incredulously. “You managed to lose something that big? Was that before or after you barged into my room?”

Nea snorted.

The Shinigami flushed.

That is, of course, the moment a loud roar resonated through the room. Allen felt the hairs on his arms stand up.

‘Well, whatever they are, they have a good feeling for drama and timing.’ Nea commented as he gave Allen a mental hug.

The so-called Shinigami didn’t move an inch.

In fact, if Allen didn’t know any better, it was as if the Aku- no, the hollow hadn’t just announced it’s presence to everyone in town to hear.

Honestly, it’s not like it could even get any louder…

Allen eyed the girl with a raised eyebrow.

He cleared his throat when she only continued to stare at him. “Well, from the sound of it, it should be right outside. I’m not sure how you could have lost it. Also, I’m not sure why you are still here. Aren’t you supposed to deal with them?”

He had never liked how his fellow exorcist had kept calling Akuma “it” and it seemed like that had remained the same. Still, it wasn’t easy to determine the gender of the soul inside it, if he couldn’t see it.

He had been the only one to see the souls, so he could understand why they had done so, but still… Most of the time, it had seemed like the other exorcist had forgotten that there were human souls inside the Akuma.

**‘** **Oh, you are very sassy today.** **’** Nea crooned in delight.

‘You know very well that I usually am very sassy. _This_ is not new.’

“What are you talking about?” the girl asked bewildered.

The Aku- hollow roared again and finally, she startled upright. Almost as if she really hadn’t been able to hear it before.

Strange that.

The Shinigami cursed and ran down the stairs.

Allen curiously stared after her. He should... probably stay upstairs, right? He was curious though…

Karin screamed.

Allen found himself on the ground floor before he realised he had moved.

Half the exterior wall of their living space was… gone?

Yuzu lay unconscious at the entrance to the room, and Allen quickly examined her to make sure she would be okay, picked her up and placed her on a sofa.

Then he followed the Shinigami outside, just in time to see her free Karin from the hollow's tight grip.

“Ichi-nii!!” The young girl ran to him in a panic. He immediately hugged her as she came close enough. Relief filled him as he saw she didn’t look hurt.

**‘** **Allen.** **’** Nea called him back to the situation at hand.

“Karin, I need you to go inside and take care of Yuzu. Can you do that for me? I’ll take care of this.” He spoke as she nodded along.

He gave her a gentle push inside the house. She stumbled inside. Allen suspected the shock was settling in.

‘Remind me to check up on them after this.’

**‘** **Sure.** **’**

He turned back around to see what was happening only to wince as the Shinigami crashed into their brick fence. She didn’t look good. At all…

His eye activated, this time without any pain, he could see the captured soul inside the hollow.

A hollow which seemed to wait for the Shinigami to get back up?

What was that about?

He cautiously took a step towards the girl. The hollow turned to look at him but didn’t move.

What the hell? Was it just going to wait until they killed it?

He kneeled by her side.

“It’s m-much … stronger than I ant-ticipated.” She stumbled over her words as blood dripped down her chin.

Even though she had been cut in the chest area, her eyes burned with determination. She gripped her sword.

“Do y-you… want to s-save your sisters?”

“What kind of question is that?! Of course!” he snapped at her.

Nea scoffed.

“I c-can give you t-the power to-“

“No thanks.” Allen said bluntly.

“What!?!” she yelled in shock.

“I said no. And keep that sword of yours away from me.” He moved back, away from the katana she seemed ready to stab him with.

No way was he involving himself in some Shinigami shit. She probably was going to stab him just now. And then what? He’d die?

No, thank you.

Been there, done that.

Not impressed.

Besides…

“If you don’t you’ll be completely powerless! You can’t defeat a hollow as an ordinary human.” She exploded on him. “We’ll all die!”

“I’ll take my chances.”

His innocence almost seemed to be humming.

Something told him it would be okay.

“Besides, who said I was powerless?”

He stood up and faced the hollow.

“Innocence, hatsudo!”

This was home.

This was peace and belonging.

He had missed this.

Activating his innocence was not something he had done before in this life. It hadn’t been necessary to try it until now. He hadn’t realised how much he had missed it, until now.

He could feel Crown Clown greeting him, brushing up against his mind as it greeted him with delight.

**‘** **I** **’** **m guessing you need to destroy the mask, just like she did earlier.** **’** Nea’s voice brought him back down from whatever high that he was on.

The peaceful feeling dimmed slightly. It didn’t go away, it never would again, but it calmed down. It didn’t overwhelm him as much anymore, but it did move aside to make room for what needed to be done.

Crown Clown's presence in his mind like this, that was new. He could feel the innocence’s joy at being properly reunited again.

He felt the possessiveness Crown Clown radiated as his trusted white cloak settled on his shoulders.

He could feel his innocence’s rage when the hollow attacked him. Crown Clown’s ribbons tore the hollow to pieces before Allen could even blink.

He had never felt such possessive rage before.

It should probably scare him, but this was Crown Clown. The innocence had been with him longer than even Nea had.

As the hollow died, the rage subsided and bubbly joy replaced it together with a mental hug that felt so warm and comforting that Allen visibly sagged.

“W-what did you do?!” the Shinigami screeched.

“Will you be alright?” he asked her instead of answering.

She blinked at him, apparently too shocked for words.

He smiled brightly at her.

**TBC.**  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don’t know: hatsudo = activate!


	4. ch 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Swearing.
> 
> Also: this chapter might feel a bit filler-ish

Allen put his sisters to bed after leaving the Shinigami outside gaping after him. Yuzu hadn’t woken up yet and Karin was half asleep already now that the adrenaline had worn off. Both of them were unharmed, except maybe from some bruising. He sighed in relief, deactivated Crown Clown and carried them both upstairs after making sure they hadn’t been hurt, one girl on each arm while muttering reassurances all the way to their room. He hadn’t wanted to deactivate his innocence so soon, but he also didn’t want to hurt either of the girls with his clawed left hand.

Karin nuzzled his neck sleepily.

Once upstairs he tucked them in, kissed their forehead and went back downstairs.

There was still a hole in their wall after all.

The Shinigami had disappeared and he couldn’t help but sigh in frustration.

Why had he even expected her to stick around to help him clean up?

Allen eyed the hole in their wall. He couldn’t just leave it like that… Anyone could walk in…

He summoned Crown Clown again and used the mantle to block the hole. Then he let go of the material and Crown Clown came back to him, leaving the strange white substance covering the hole.

It would have to do until morning.

Feeling exhausted he went back upstairs, fell on his bed and immediately went to sleep.

Only he didn’t fall asleep. As soon as he opened his eyes again, he was in a strange space.

He wasn’t in his room anymore. He wasn’t even laying down anymore, and his bed was most certainly gone.

He was standing up in a dark space and he had no time to make out more than that of his surroundings as he was enveloped in something completely white. It was fluffy and he had never felt more safe.

Crown Clown.

If he hadn’t recognized his innocence, his surprise would have been much more obvious, but this feeling was familiar.

Familiar and, he only realised now, missed. Being with his innocence, dormant like that, had created an ache inside him he could only now recognize for what it was.

Reincarnation was hard.

Even after living with that knowledge for years, it didn’t get any easier. He had never been more grateful than when he woke up, more Allen than Ichigo, with Nea in his mind, right where he belonged.

The Noah had become his rock, even at the end of his last life.

Allen had seen Nea’s last memories, had seen him betray the Earl, had seen that the Noah had truly expected to die. He had never planned to be awakened in another human being like the other Noah did – that had never been part of the plan.

During the last few months of his life, while Allen was being chased by the order, Apocryphos and the Earl’s side of this war, Nea had completely awakened.

His horror about what his brother, Mana, had done to a child had been so strong it had physically made Allen sick.

Johnny had been very worried about him while he puked his guts out, but Nea and Allen had started talking.

Kanda, on the other hand, had not been impressed. But then again, when was the guy ever? He had stuck around though. Whether because deep down he cared for Allen or as a repayment for the Alma fiasco, Allen couldn’t be sure. Still, he was grateful.

He grimaced and burrowed deeper into the warmth of his innocence.

Kanda had died not long before him.

Crown Clown tightened his grip and Allen forced his thoughts away from that dark place.

Having had Nea there with him as he woke had been a wonder – he blushed as the Noah chuckled and ruffled his hair; having heard his thoughts – but honestly, having Crown Clown here was felt like a blessing, strangely enough. His innocence had been with him for years, ever since his arm started changing, but it had been dormant, not unlike his last life, where Crown Clown had only woken up after Mana’s attempted ‘revival’.

Having both of them now, awake and supporting him, felt like nothing less than a miracle.

The last piece of his soul was finally awake.

When he finally emerged from the fluffy white cloak, Crown Clown kept a tight grip on him. There was face in the fluffy white cloak. It looked remarkably like his own, but the person was completely white. Except for their shiny innocence-green eyes. The person beamed at him and nuzzled into his shoulder.

This must be Crown Clown.

He had never seen his innocence like this. It felt nice. Crown Clown had a human appearance, which explained why this embrace really did feel like a warm hug.

Allen still didn’t have much room to look around, as all he could see in the opening the White cloak permitted was his uncle.

**“** **Glad you made it.** **”** Nea said tenderly.

Allen couldn’t help the large grin that stretched over his whole face.

<Love. Finally. Overwhelming joy.>

Crown Clown had never spoken to him in words, but that had not stopped them from communication. He’d always gotten impressions from his innocence, but their bond had never allowed such clear communication before.

<Possesive. Mine, mine, mine…>

**“** **He** **’** **s being** **’** **s very selfish.** **”** Nea pouted. **“** **You are _ours_ after all, not just his.** **”**

Allen laughed out loud, before sighing contently.

He fell asleep like that, surrounded by the two that made him feel whole again.

**

Only to be brutally woken what felt like seconds after he laid down as Isshin kicked him in the face.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!??” He couldn’t help but explode.

“I got you today!!” the man laughed loudly, clearly very proud of himself.

This really wasn’t a promising start of the day…

He blinked as the memories of the night before assaulted him. “Wait, how are Yuzu and Karin? Are they all right?”

The man looked puzzled. “Of course, why wouldn’t they be? I mean, sure apparently a truck crashed into the house last night, but no one woke up and they had the decency to fix the wall, so all is all right!!”

Allen couldn’t believe his ears. “A truck? No one woke up?”

**“** **Did he really sleep through all that?** **”** Nea commented sceptically.

Unbelievable.

He couldn’t help but twitch in frustration during breakfast.

The twins didn’t seem to remember anything from last night. That was a comfort.

Their father had apparently not only slept through the hollow attack, he also hadn’t questioned the hole in their wall, or Allen’s rushed patch up work. He had seen the story on the news (the news!! Of all places!?!) and just gone with it. No questions, no doubt, just… Isshin like they had always known him…

He had to bite his check, hard, to prevent himself from decking the man in the face.

\--

Going back to school after what had happened felt unreal.

For a brief moment, Allen had felt like he had never died, fighting Akuma with Crown Clown by his side. Now, he wasn’t sure which life felt more like a dream.

People were whispering about him. He could hear them. The ‘truck’ incident had managed to appear on the local news, so Allen could not be too surprised.

Still, he couldn’t help but sigh in aggravation.

He quickly found his seat and ignored the other teens in the classroom. Luckily their teacher came in swiftly after, only to introduce a new student.

He couldn’t help but stare at the Shinigami from yesterday, now appearing human as she smiled innocently at the students.

“My name is Kuchiki Rukia. It’s nice to meet you.”

Allen honestly had no idea what to think about this. Yesterday she had disappeared on him the moment he had turned around, but now she showed up at his school? And how did she get a body? Was this the same trick as that blasted blond shopkeeper used?

She sat down at the desk next to him and introduced herself again. Her smile was so bright, but also so obviously fake, that Allen couldn’t help but cringe.

Not wanting to be rude, he introduced himself. “Kurosaki Ichigo.”

He shook her hand but not before reading the warning she had written on her palm. Like he needed a warning to not tell people what had happened the night before. He rolled his eyes at her. Who would he have told? His non-existent friends? His family, who were already convinced their house had been hit by a truck?

“We need to talk later. Don’t run.” She hissed at him through her smile.

Brilliant… Allen sighed.

It would just be his luck if she turned out to be a stalker as well.

He hadn’t seen the blond weirdo since he had confronted the man, but the cat still checked up on him every few months.

He stayed quiet during their math class. He’d always been good with numbers, something his master had eagerly taken advantage of once. That didn’t mean he enjoyed it, but today he allowed himself to lose himself in the numbers.

Paying attention in class was the perfect excuse to ignore both the Shinigami and his classmates, who were still staring at him.

\--

The Shinigami was persistent.

Allen could give her that much.

Even if her stalking was getting annoying very quickly. At least she had the decency to do it in plain view? Well, plain view, she was practically dogging his every footstep while ranting and asking him the same questions over and over again.

It was exhausting, especially since, no, he didn’t want to talk about what happened to his arm that night. No, he would not tell her where the cloak and mask came from. No, he was not secretly some sort of hollow. Did she not see he didn’t have a hole in his chest? And since when was he dead again?

She had somehow gotten a real body and now she had the audacity to follow him to school which did nothing to help shut up his classmates. The new student (and why did she have to enrol if she only wanted to talk to him?) had been glued to the freak’s side all day.

He didn’t think they realised he could actually hear them when they said stuff like that…

Chad hovered around all day, ready to step in and give Allen some breathing space. Kuchiki seemed reluctant to ask her questions with others around, so for once Allen didn’t immediately tried to ditch the gentle giant as he normally did.

“Who are you?” She finally cornered him after school, on his way home.

He took a deep breath and turned around to face her. Better get this over with…

“I already told you my name.”

She frowned at him, clearly pissed off. “That is not what I meant! What was that power you used? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Never?” he asked distracted.

Not even from the Black Order? This Japan’s history had seemed different from what he remembered, (Japan had been wiped out in his last life after all) but he had never gotten any confirmation about it. Was that proof that he was reborn in a completely different world? Or was this world just good at covering such stuff up? Barely any people had known about the Order and Akuma last time, even if the Akuma were a worldwide problem…

After all these years of thinking on it, he still wasn’t sure if he wanted this to be a new world or not.

“Never.” She confirmed.

How old could Shinigami become? Was she as young as she looked, and was that the reason she didn’t know or was there really nothing to know?

“It’s fascinating. Do you think you could do it again?” she asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

He felt a bit wary. “Sure but why?” Crown Clown hummed brightly in his mind.

“Good, because you’ll need to take care of the hollows around here for me.”

“What?! Why? Isn’t that your job?”

“Because I’m still too hurt to do it myself. This gigai will help speed up my recovery, but compared to the care I’d usually get, this will be a slow recovery process.” She nodded resolutely.

Allen really didn’t want to get involved with those people but on the other hand the urge to help those poor souls stuck in those hollows was far greater.

So he shrugged. “Fine, I’ll give it a shot, but no guarantees.”

She beamed at him.

\--

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Allen stopped in his tracks as he heard Isshin yell in their living room. He’d just gotten home and was trying to sneak into the house (to avoid his father), when he heard the man yell.

He froze.

“Why do you keep saying that?! Did you see him or not?”

Isshin… wasn’t talking to him? He sounded…

Allen listened carefully. No reply from the man so he assumed he was on the phone.

He let out a sigh of relief.

Just as he was going to continue towards the stairs he heard: “That doesn’t tell me anything?! Did you or did you not see my son fight the hollow?!”

He stopped. What the-

“So he did fight the hollow, Kisuke? What about the Shinigami? Is she recovering at your place?”

Allen committed the name to memory.

How did the old man know about hollows?

“Right, so the girl got hurt. Guess Ichigo finally got off his lazy ass and acted, right?”

A pause.

“What do you mean he didn’t become a Shinigami!?!”

Allen clenched his fists.

His father was clearly well informed about what had been happening. He would bet that was the blond pedophile from years back on the other side of the phone. So they hadn’t stopped keeping an eye on him after all... He just hadn’t noticed them anymore.

Luckily he had taken precautions just in case…

“Do NOT take that tone with me!!” Isshin suddenly snarled.

Allen couldn’t help the sardonic smirk that flashed over his face as he heard his father’s frustration.

Maybe the blond weirdo from a few years back was not that bad after all… If he could ruin his father’s day with just a phone call.

**‘** **Shame we can** **’** **t just take your sisters and run from here.** **’** Nea commented with a sneer.

‘The world changed too much. If only I was a few years older.’ Allen frowned.

It was a problem he had contemplated regularly the last few years, but a solution hadn’t presented itself yet.

What the hell had he gotten involved with this time around?

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never understood that Ichigo is so protective of his sisters that he would go to bed after that first hollow attack and only worry about them in the morning. Did he leave his sisters laying there? What about the hole in their wall? In canon he is so surprised the hole is fixed and nobody is hurt… It has always bothered me. 
> 
> Let me know in a comment what you think??


	5. Chapter 5

Allen wasn’t sure what to do next.

He had just left Isshin downstairs to his shouting match on the phone and he had snuck into his room. He had fallen unto the bed and was currently trying to drown in his pillow.

He was glad the girls had decided to stay over at a friend’s house tonight. He didn’t think he’d be able to take care of them now.

Because he was on the verge of a panic attack right now…

Because only now was he starting to realise what had happened the last 24 hours.

Akuma (or hollows) still existed, even if slightly different from what he remembered.

When he was finally convinced that society had evolved (improved) enough, the world seemed determined to drag him back into trouble and misery.

And that was what this was. Because of Kuchiki Rukia. Because she had a job to job. Which meant she had an employer. Which, again, meant that someone had hired (or whatever you want to call it) a dead girl to collect other dead souls and to kill the Akuma-look alikes.

Right?

Which meant that she probably wasn’t the only one. No way could one dead girl handle a whole planet of dead souls. And unless the requirements to do this job were on an innocence-level difficulty, than this meant she was part of some organisation. Probably a big one. Full of dead people. Who had been dead for who knows how long.

Did he dare hope the Catholic church wasn’t somehow involved, this time?

And somehow Allen had stumbled right into the middle of… whatever this was.

He so regretted agreeing to helping her out now! Even if he  still had no idea what exactly she expected him to do!

Somehow he had once again stumbled into the business of a secret organisation. What were the odds this one wouldn’t have him killed? Or killed twice, since they were themselves dead? Would that make it his third time dying?

Allen blinked in realisation.

Because knowing all this, Isshin still seemed angry Allen hadn’t gotten int o this mess deeper than he already was.

Which was not reassuring… at all!

Maybe it was time he sat the man down for a serious conversation?

Or, he could go back to see his old blond stalker? See if that one would talk to him?

Neither options appealed to him.

But he needed answers, and quickly. Before he got himself into a mess even bigger than the one in his last life! And before his worried thoughts gave him a panic attack. He could feel himself well on his way there already.

Crown Clown wrapped himself around Allen’s soul and Neah started to hum soothingly. Both had been quite for a suspiciously long time, but now, they stepped in.

It still filled Allen with wonder seeing and feeling the two exist in his soul without any struggle. Innocence and Noah had been mortal enemies at one point, and it hadn’t been different for these two. It amazed him that they put up with each other and even (if he dared say it) worked together just for him.

Right now though, Allen didn’t realise this. He was too busy trying not to hyperventilate. He really didn’t need to get suck in some sort of flashback, right now.

He needed to think, clearly. Taking a deep breath, he tried to focus.

The blond weirdo was probably the easiest option.

Everything he could do to evade talking to Isshin…

Still, he felt reluctant to go see the shopkeeper again. He had left in a hurry the last time (years ago, now), and the man had probably thought he was throwing a tantrum. (He hadn’t been, alright?! He had been completely right in being indignant that his father had asked a stranger to stalk him instead of simply talking to Allen.) Would the man even agree to talk to him? Would he even tell him anything?

He could probably talk to Kuchiki about this… but he didn’t want to alert someone on the inside of the possibly murderous organisation that he was worried already. That might just make them curious and he _really_ didn’t want that.

He wanted to rip his hair out in frustration.

What should he do now??

He stilled and looked up from his cushion.

His father was downstairs…

Why not simply go down and confront the man?

Allen had never been someone to avoid stuff like that. Hell, he’d spend about a year searching the globe to actually find Cross in his last life, even if he had rather run the other way. Why was he cowering here in his room, worrying when all his answers were downstairs?

When had Allen ever taken the easy way out?

Never, that is when.

To be honest, he didn’t think the easy way out was ever an option he had had. Allen option’s had always been ‘bad’ and ‘worse’.

-o-

“Good morning, family!!” Isshin yelled out like he did every morning. “EH, where are the girls?”

Allen grit his teeth and took a deep breath to try and not sass the man. “They stayed over at a friends place last night.”

Didn’t you know? Didn’t you at leats notice neither came home yesterday?

Was what he wanted to say, but he kept his tong. “So, I made breakfast for the both of us.”

“Really??” the man had the audacity to look shocked. “I didn’t know you knew how to cook?!”

“Yuzu wanted to learn, after mom died. Someone had to teach her, since you were working long nights at the clinic.” Allen tried his hardest to stay polite, but it really wasn’t easy.

Only the two soothing presences in his mind help him somehow.

“Haha! Did you?! I never noticed!!” The man laughed loudly before he started eating cheerfully.

Dear Kami, staying calm would be quite the challenge…

“I know you didn’t.” He sighed in frustration.

Isshin blinked in him in what appeared to be shock again, or maybe in confusion? Allen wasn’t able to tell.

“Ichigo?”

Allen took another deep breath. “I thought it might be time we had a chat. It seems long overdue.”

“What are you talking about, son?”

“You know very well what I’m talking about. What is going on?”

Isshin scratched his head, but Allen continued on before he could deny it.

“You were yelling quite loudly last night on  the phone. Not sure what you were expecting, but it was impossible not to hear what you were saying.”

The man paled dramatically. “Ichigo, - “

“You’ve also had a grown man and his talking cat stalk me for who knows how long. I hope it only started after mom died. And why? Because you couldn’t or didn’t want to talk to me and ask what was happening?” once he got talking it was difficult to stop.

Isshin slumped in his chair, food forgotten on his plate. He looked miserable and was rubbing his hand over his eyes.

“The loss of you mother was… very hard on me.” He started, but Allen wouldn’t allow him to use such an excuse.

“It was hard on all of us. I had just seen mom die! And then you couldn’t even bother to explain to Karin and Yuzu what had happened! You left that to me! I was eight!” Allen reproached the man, half yelling.

Isshin flinched, as if Allen had physically struck him. Allen tried to calm down again. “As much as we need to … talk about that, it isn’t what I wanted to speak to you about. I want to know what is happening right now. With the Shinigami.” He added to make himself clear.

Isshin took a deep breath and straightened his back before he looked Allen in the eyes. Allen had never seen the man so serious.

**‘He might actually tell you something.’** Neah sounded amazed.

“Masaki’s death destroyed me.” Isshin started. “I’m not proud of it, and I realize it’s not much of an excuse, but I can admit now that I should have taken better care of you all. I never should have left that to you, and for that I am sorry. I was in a dark place and by the time I had realised what was going on, everything was different. The girls obviously didn’t need me, they always turned to you. For everything. And you… You’d always been a mama’s boy but now? It was like you were a completely different person. Just enough of the old Ichigo left to constantly make me doubt myself.”

“I’m still me.” Allen said Softly as Isshin paused to breath.

And he was. He’d always been Ichigo. He just hadn’t always remembered being Allen. It just turned out that he’d been Allen longer than he’d been Ichigo.

“I know. Kisuke, that’s the guy you called a stalker (if you didn’t know), made sure to check you out that night. The hollow that killed your mother also managed to hurt your soul.”

Allen blinked in shock and Isshin kept blissfully silent as the younger of the two tried to process the news.

“Mom was killed by a hollow?” he asked in a strangled voice.

Isshin only nodded. “Kisuke assured me that you’d only gotten your soul scratched and that it was healing already when he looked. There shouldn’t have been such … differences afterwards. Maybe some dreams about lives lived before, but… Needless to say, the changes you wnet through came faster and more pronounced them we had anticipated.”

**‘That could actually explain a lot.’** Nea Commented softly. **‘If only a scratch would have caused you top dream about a past life, then that would explain why not only you remember being Allen on top of Ichigo, but it might even explain how Crown Clown and me got here. If not for my regenerative abilities, we would have died that night. We did get much more than a little scratch after all.’**

‘True.’ Allen thought wryly. ‘You got me healed up before they got there, right? I don’t really remember…’

**‘Yeah, most of your wounds would have been gone already.’**

‘That explains why they thought bleeding out was only a small scratch.’

“This town has been protected from hollows for the past decades.” Isshin changed the subject. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the two hollows that get through that protection chose to target you.”

“So… you think those Shinigami are behind this?” Allen tried to follow where his father was going with this.

“No, only one shinigami in particular. I don’t think anyone in the Seireitei knows what he is up to, though. He’s been busy planning something for at least three centuries now, so the fact that he’s starting to move now is not very reassuring. His interest in you is even more alarming. I don’t have all the details, you should probably talk to Kisuke about this. He’d more involved in this mess.”

“I might just do that.” Allen muttered deep in thought.

Crown Clown, feeling his distress, draped himself around his soul in a warm embrace.

So, he’d need to watch out for at least one shinigami for who knew what reason. He’d need to go back to that shop today, after soon, or should he skip school and go immediately after this? The sooner he got his answers the better. Still…

“What about the other Shinigami. Should I be worried about them?” Neah took over briefly (not long enough for any changes to be seen) while Allen was distracted.

“Of course.” Isshin snorted. “Shinigami aren’t known to tolerate people who have powers similar to their own, but that aren’t them. I don’t know exactly what it is you did that night you fought that hollow, but if you really did not get that shinigami’s powers to fight with, then it won’t be long before they start noticing that something is going on. If you had, than they’d barely payed any attention, because a Shinigami is supposed to be doing their job here.”

“That is why you so angry last night? Because I got into more trouble than you’d thought?” He asked sceptically.

Isshin grinned sheepishly and shrugged. “You getting that shinigami’s power would have brought its own set of problems, but we’d have had more time before they’d notice. Unless something drastic happened, of course.”

“That’s not reassuring.” Allen said sarcastically.

Isshin shrugged again. “Like I said, I’m not to sure about the details. I’m not really involved in all this. Go seek out Kisuke. He’ll be able to tell you more.”

“I will.” Allen vowed.

He really needed more answers, though Isshin’s cooperation had been a pleasant surprise, even if he had a feeling the man had only spilled a little of what he knew.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Allen and his dad talk! (even if it’s only a little…) And no one can convince me that Isshin didn’t notice the changes in his son. The guy was a captain, after all ^^  
> I HAVE FANART!! https://twitter.com/Sodapopstars/status/1059898756680826881?s=20  
> Short chapter, but a chapter none the less! Sorry it took so long, but… I’m not someone who update in a regular fashion… ^^’ Sorry in advance!  
> Leave a review on your way out, please!


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